The Legal, Political, and Economic Marginalization of Maori in New Zealand

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Maori people living in New Zealand have found themselves in what Laguerre (1999), describes as ‘minoritized spaces’, dislocated from ‘white’, ‘normalized’, majority spaces.

This article seeks to explain the legal, economic, political, social and cultural marginalization of the Maori people within New Zealand and how this has affected Maori society.

The colonial paradigm for power and control will also be introduced to further understand how systematic marginalization has taken place in New Zealand.

What Is Racial Marginalization?

 Cram, 2004, describes marginalization as; “totally removing the importance and power of someone…..the forcing of peoples out of the mainstream of political, economic or social life…to push to the sidelines or the periphery of a society or dominant group” (pp1-3). Cram then applies marginalization to the New Zealand society;

“Marginalization occurs when a group of people are pushed to the periphery of society. One key push in the marginalization of indigenous peoples was the arrival of colonizers in our lands. Colonization turned our world’s upside- down in many ways and has made what we considered to be normal into something ‘different’ and marginal to the mainstream of the new society. In New Zealand, many Maori reside in the margins of this ‘mainstream’ society, while others are at the margins of Maori society” (2004: p10).

What Is The Colonial Paradigm For Power And Control?

The colonial paradigm for power and control uses four major bearings:

Freedom: The ability of the colonizer to apply force

Rights: Controlling political expression, civil rights, legal recourse and legalization

Being: Controlling education and knowledge, language and general cultural facets 

Access: This can be used to institute structural gate-keeping and essentialized beliefs (Taonui: 2009).

This paradigm saw relative effectiveness within New Zealand and can be shown within this equation:

Ability to apply force + economic, political, civil rights and cultural control 

 EQUALS

The Control and dominance of that particular society

If the colonizer controls these four specific areas, power and control will naturally arrive, due to the control of key areas of society. This control and power is key to a people’s survival and being.

How Have The Maori People Been Marginalized?

 Marginalization of the Maori people started shortly after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty allowed the colonizers to claim sovereignty over New Zealand and the Treaty also led to an institutionalized belief within the British colonizers that New Zealand was now their country to control.

The marginalization occurred “on an issue-by-issue- basis” (Taonui: 2009) rather than a mindful scheme, although one assumes that the complete dominance and control of New Zealand was driven by the perceived cultural ‘superiority’ of the colonizers. 

How Did The British Colonizers Achieve Their Dominance of New Zealand?

The growth and decline of European and Maori populations from 1800 to 1900 had a massive effect on the cultural dominance and control of New Zealand. While Maoris (100,000) outnumbered Europeans (2000) 50 to 1 in 1840, less than 50 years later, Europeans (600,000) outnumbered Maori (50,000) by a factor of 12 to 1. 

The Maori population declined 75% (from 150,000 to 36,000) over 130 years (1770-1900) and this had massive implications for the eventual marginalization of the Maori people (McLintock: 2007). 

Legal Marginalization of Maori in New Zealand

The legal marginalization of Maori came in the form of suspending Maori civil rights and this de-humanized Maori in the eye of the Crown. Firstly, several acts were passed to maintain control over Maori including The Maori Prisoners Detention Act of 1880, The West Coast Settlement Act of 1880, The West Coast Preservation Act of 1882 and the Indemnity Act of 1882 (Taonui: 2009). These acts sought to curb Maori civil rights and control Maori in a way that looks legitimate. 

Economic Marginalization of Maori in New Zealand

The economic marginalization of Maori occurred in the period shortly after the signing of the Treaty. This happened due to the confiscation of lands which is evident in Maori losing 83% of their lands between 1840 and 1900 (Taonui: 2009) which is extremely hard to swallow because this happened within a two-generation time span.

After 1900, the Crown sought to further marginalize Maori economically by undermining their ability to manage land. This is shown in the taxes paid by Maori on land which could be valued at up to 300% more than European land. This is but one facet of economic marginalization that Maori have faced and shows that this occurred systematically with full knowledge of the colonizer.

Social And Cultural Marginalization of Maori in New Zealand

Social and cultural marginalization has also been used against Maori and this has also had a great effect on Maori within New Zealand. Firstly, in the 1850s, Maori children attended missionary schools to be taken away “from the demoralizing influences of their villages” (Bennett: 1966 Cited in Simon, J.A).  Coupled with the suppression of traditional Maori learning lead to forced religious (Christian) education, industrial training and learning in English (Taonui: 2009).

Another instance of social marginalization was that in 1900, the Maori language was forbidden from schools (Taonui: 2009) and many complied with this rule of law thinking that if they spoke English they would be seen as equals. 

This would only show the colonizer that they are superior because the natives have obeyed their rule. These examples show that there was a conscious effort to detach young Maori from their traditional culture and values and this taught Maori the norms of the ‘new’, European culture that inhabits New Zealand.

Effects of Racial Marginalization 

The effects of racial marginalization can be shown in Bulbeck’s Wheel of Discrimination (1993) and show that the early marginalization has undermined Maori people and culture. 

When the Maori people and culture had become undermined, “aspirations lowered, achievement lowered and living conditions fell.... when Maori people lived in slums, in miserable health much of the time and lacking educational opportunity, their aspirations diminished” (Ward: 1997).

Living an oppressed lifestyle leads to lack of services needed such as healthcare, housing and money and these are essential to any people’s development.

Final Thoughts

Marginalization has had profound effects on Maori society in New Zealand that can still be seen today. The British Crown took control of the key areas in which a culture is nurtured and changed them so that Maori would have to assimilate into European culture, regardless of what their beliefs were. 

These steps towards control were taken within the economic, legal, political, social and cultural realms of  New Zealand society. Due to this control over specific areas of society, the Crown could dictate what the ‘norm’ was, and could also enforce it.

These practices of cultural dominance in New Zealand have been particularly damaging to Maori because the Maori people were left feeling powerless, therefore, their expectations and goals have diminished. 

Further Reading

Bulbeck. C. (1993). Race and Ethnicity in Australia. Social Sciences Australia. PP. 113-145)

Cram, F. (2004). Researching our relations: reflections on ethics and marginalization.

Laguerre, M. (1999). Minoritized space: An inquiry into the spatial order of things. Berkeley: University of California.

McLintock. A. H. (2007). Population. An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand originally published in 1966.

Simon. J.A. State Schooling For Maori: The Control of Access To Knowledge.

Taonui. R (2009). Lecture: Honoring the Treaty – The Marginalization of Maori Society. School of Maori and Indigenous Studies.

Ward. A. (1997). Rangahaua Whanui, National Overview, Vol. 1.